


woke up like this

by carissima



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, M/M, William Nylander is a Responsible Adult
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-29 21:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15082352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: Zach huffs out a little sigh before he tugs on Willy’s sleeve. “Willy will look after me,” he says with confidence.“Him?” Mitch says in surprise.“Me?” Willy asks, taken aback.“You,” Zach says firmly.





	woke up like this

**Author's Note:**

  * For [delightfulalot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightfulalot/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [delightfulalot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightfulalot/pseuds/delightfulalot) in the [PuckingRare2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2018) collection. 



> huge thank you to b and c for the beta!
> 
> for the prompt: willy has to take care of a de-aged zach hyman and he's FREAKING OUT bc ZACH'S the one who knows about kids and stuff!! zach's a good kid though, even if he cries when willy tries to leave him with anyone else. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy it!

Zach doesn’t show up for morning skate, which is, well, unusual. But what’s even more unusual is that no one’s heard from him. Willy’s certain that’s like, totally unheard of. Babs shouts for a bit, all flushed red and pulsing forehead veins, but it’s mostly for show. Willy knows he’s as worried as the rest of them.

Patty moves up to their line for the rest of practice and like, it’s nice to play with him and everything but, well, he’s not Zach. Patty’s not where Willy expects him to be on the ice; he’s not where Zach would instinctively be, he’s not connecting on passes from Matty or Willy quite as well as Zach does. By the time practice ends, Willy is kind of antsy, showering and changing faster than he usually does.

“Hey.” Mitch appears at his shoulder and nudges him. “Wanna go check on him?”

Willy exhales a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding until right that second. “Yeah,” he says, grabbing his bag and all but pushing Mitch out of the locker room, not bothering to say goodbye to the guys. They’ll understand.

“I’m gonna call him,” Mitch says, already dialling as they walk. Willy keeps glancing over at him, but the call obviously isn’t connecting and he watches Mitch lower his phone, looking worried.

“He’s probably fine,” Willy says firmly. He very deliberately doesn’t look at Mitch again as they walk towards their cars. “Right?”

“Definitely,” Mitch says, less confidently. “He’s fine. He’s probably just like, passed out in bed or whatever.”

Willy just nods and heads for his car, his mind very carefully blank. He throws his stuff in the back seat and gets in, checking his mirror. He looks- well, he looks like shit and he’s gonna kill Zach, probably, for making him worry and looking terrible while he does it. He cranks up the radio and forces himself to relax, following Mitch’s car to Zach’s place. It’s actually pretty soothing to sing along to Ariana Grande with the windows down, and he’s mostly chill by the time he’s parked and they’re walking up to Zach’s condo.

“What if he’s, like, not here?” Willy asks as they walk down the hall towards Zach’s door. The antsy feeling is back and Willy doesn’t know what to do about it.

Mitch reaches into his pocket and pulls out an impressively busy set of keys. He flicks through a couple before he makes a triumphant noise and singles out a key. “Zach gave me a spare, like, a few months ago,” Mitch says. He presses the bell and leans against the doorjamb. “For, like, emergencies or whatever.”

“What?” Willy is honest to god so offended. “What the fuck? Why didn’t he give me a key? I’m like, his favorite liney.”

“Okay, firstly, Matts is his fave,” Mitch says, probably just to rile Willy up and okay, it’s totally working because he’s definitely closer to Zach than Auston. Auston sucks, okay? He’s not even here to check Zach’s okay, like Willy is. Willy is totally better than Auston in every single way and he’s gonna tell Zach that as soon as he opens his goddamn door. “And secondly, I’m totally trustworthy.” He jangles the keys in Willy’s face and Willy just wants to grab them and like, throw them out the window or whatever.

“I’m totally trustworthy,” Willy grumbles as Mitch knocks twice, loudly. When Zach doesn’t appear like Willy hoped he would, Mitch looks at him and they both nod. Mitch unlocks the door and slowly opens it.

“Zach?” Mitch calls, stepping inside cautiously until Willy gets frustrated and just pushes past him.

“Zach?” he yells, walking through the apartment and trying not to feel worried when Zach doesn’t appear.

That is until he walks into the kitchen and finds a little boy, standing on one of the kitchen chairs, very carefully pouring Cinnamon Toast Crunch into a bowl. Willy’s so surprised to see a child in Zach’s apartment that he just stares for a moment. The boy is wearing sweatpants that are way too big for him, rolled up at the ankles and the huge Leafs tee he’s wearing is all tucked into the waistband, the sleeves coming almost to the boy’s wrists.

“Did you find him?” Mitch asks. His head appears over Willy’s shoulder and they both watch as the boy climbs down, bowl in hand and turns towards them.

“Oh my god,” Willy gasps.

“He looks just like a mini Zach,” Mitch says, puzzled. “I didn’t know he had family in town.”

“Mitch,” Willy hisses, elbowing him in the side hard enough that he feels Mitch double over. “That’s Zach!”

“What? No it’s not. That’s impossible, dude.”

“I can hear you, you know,” the boy says, sounding vaguely annoyed and amused at the same time.

“See?!” Willy gestures towards the boy. “That’s Zach!”

“You’re actually insane,” Mitch says, pushing Willy aside and walking into the kitchen. He crouches down in front of the kid and grins widely at him. “Hey buddy.”

“Hey Mitch,” the boy says and walks straight past him, heading for the refrigerator. “That key was for emergencies only.”

Willy smugly watches Mitch’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “Zach?” he whispers.

“Yeah?” The boy - Zach - answers. “Hey, Willy, can you grab the milk for me? I can’t reach.”

“Sure, bud,” Willy says easily. He opens the fridge door, takes out a carton and pours it into Zach’s bowl, grabbing a spoon out of the cutlery drawer and handing it to Zach, who grins widely at him.

Whatever age Zach is, he’s super cute, Willy realizes. He’s all fluffy hair and too-big feet and his smile is all toothy charm. Not, Willy also realizes belatedly, unlike actual adult Zach.

“Uh, Zach?” Mitch just gives up on crouching and sits on the floor, legs crossed. “How old are you, bro?”

Zach pauses, spoon midway to his mouth. “Six?” he guesses.

“You’re six,” Mitch says and blow out a long breath. “Wow. And uh, how exactly did you just like, lose 20 years?”

“Nineteen,” Zach corrects him which makes Willy grin as Mitch glares at both of them. “And I don’t know. I just woke up like this.”

“Huh,” Willy says. He’s not sure what he was expecting, but waking up as a six year old with no memory of how it happened seems pretty boring. He’d want puffs of smoke, maybe. Or a wizard with a curse that can only be broken by like, true love’s kiss or whatever.

“Were you this mature when you were actually six?” Mitch asks, curious. “I mean, the first time you were six.”

“Yeah?” Zach says like it’s a stupid question and honestly, Willy doesn’t blame him. Zach’s like, the most responsible person on the team, and that’s totally including Patty and all the other dads. Zach’s got his shit together in a way that Willy, and probably Mitchy, Matts and the rest of the boys can only dream about having one day. “I’m the oldest brother.”

“Dude, I’m the second oldest and I’m like, a disaster,” Willy says easily.

Zach turns to look at him with an adorable frown on his face. “No you’re not,” he says crossly. He even folds his arms over his chest and Willy just wants to pick him up and cuddle him. Zach probably wouldn’t like it though, so Willy stays in the doorway and shoves his hands in his pockets, just in case.

“Dude, he kind of is,” Mitch says. When Zach spins around to glare at him, Mitch holds up his hands in surrender. “Okay, well, whatever. You can’t stay here on your own. I don’t care how responsible you are, you’re still six years old.”

“Yes I can,” Zach says, very clearly and firmly. “Just watch.”

Mitch’s eyebrows go up and Willy stifles a laugh by coughing into his hand. Adult Zach is way more mellow than kid Zach and it’s pretty funny watching him try to out-argue Mitchy.

“I don’t have to watch because you’re not staying here alone,” Mitch says. “We need to figure out how to change you back before you start missing any games, bro.”

Zach’s eyes go wide. “Fudge,” he says and Willy can’t help it, he dissolves into giggles. He hears Mitch join in and fuck, Zach’s the cutest kid ever.

“Mom wouldn’t let us curse,” Zach mutters. He’s glaring at Willy now and it just makes Willy laugh even harder. “Hey, stop it!”

“Sorry buddy,” Willy says, taking a few deep breaths as he tries to control his laughter. “You’re just really fucking cute.”

Zach’s face heats up almost immediately and Willy leans over to ruffle his hair.

“So, someone on the team is gonna have to look after you unless you want to go to your parents’ place,” Mitch says.

Zach huffs out a little sigh before he tugs on Willy’s sleeve. “Willy will look after me,” he says with confidence.

“Him?” Mitch says in surprise.

“Me?” Willy asks, taken aback.

“You,” Zach says firmly.

“I uh, have no idea what to do with a kid,” Willy admits. Zach’s face crumples a little and oh god, he looks like he’s going to cry. “No, no no no, it’s fine!” Willy says quickly. “I love kids! And you’re my buddy! This is totally cool, I can do this.”

Mitch gives him a disbelieving look and honestly, fuck Mitch.

“I can,” Willy insists. He doesn’t pick Zach up even though he’s really, really tempted to, but he does take Zach’s hand in his and feels stupidly pleased when Zach grins happily up at him. “I love hanging out with Zach, and now he’s even cooler than he usually is, right buddy?”

“Right,” Zach nods solemnly and Willy isn’t sure he can take much more cuteness.

“Like, I don’t know if I can actually leave you with him,” Mitch starts until Willy literally shoves him out of the kitchen and through the apartment.

“We’ll be fine,” Willy tells him, opening the front door and giving Mitch one final shove until he’s outside. “Just figure out a way to change him back, yeah?” He glances back at Zach where he’s in the kitchen, trying to put his now empty bowl in the sink, up on his tiptoes. “He’s super cute but we need big Zach back, yeah?”

“I’m on it,” Mitch says, already on his phone and typing away. “Try not to like, seriously maim him or anything, yeah?”

“I’ve got this,” Willy says, bumping the back of his knuckles against Mitch’s. “Everything’s gonna be cool. I’m super responsible and kids love me.”

Mitch looks up from his phone and the look on his face is so doubtful that Willy just shuts the door on him. He spins around and finds Zach right behind him, grinning.

“Mitch said bye,” Willy says breezily. He takes Zach’s hand again and crouches down so that they’re the same height, because it’s weird being so much taller than him. “What do you wanna do, buddy? We can’t leave the apartment because people will wonder why I’m walking around with a mini-you, so, uh, Chel? Fortnite?”

“Mario Kart!” Zach says, more excited than Willy’s ever seen him. His eyes are all wide and he’s practically bouncing on his heels.

“Uh, sure?” Willy doesn’t think he’s played Mario Kart in about 10 years but oh, right, that’s probably the point. Kid Zach wants to play kid Zach games. They get settled on Zach’s huge couch, which Willy’s always loved because it’s big enough for him to stretch out on, so he does. Zach settles on the floor, his head resting back on Willy’s knee. It takes him a few races to remember how to actually play, and Zach annihilates him.

“You’re so old,” Zach says, grinning as he shoots a green shell and knocks Willy off the track for like, the fifth time. “Can’t keep up, eh?”

“You should respect your elders,” Willy says. He’s never telling any of the guys that he’s getting hardcore chirped by a six year old Zach Hyman, he’d never hear the end of it. “Anyway, you’re like, four years older than me.”

“So I guess you should respect your elders, right?” Zach says, looking over his shoulder and beaming at Willy.

“Shut up,” Willy says gently, nudging his knee so Zach loses his balance for a second.

He still gets fucking creamed at Mario Kart, though.

“Right,” Willy announces, throwing his controller down when he’s lost his seventh straight race. “Sandwiches?”

Zach asks him to cut his sandwich into the shape of a puck so Willy does his best and the way Zach’s face lights up when he hands it over makes him feel pretty fucking good.

They watch cartoons while they eat because it feels wrong to let Zach watch anything above a PG rating. Zach doesn’t seem to mind though, he just snuggles into Willy’s side and polishes off three sandwiches before he starts to fall asleep on Willy.

It’s nice.

Willy’s arm is wrapped around Zach and he’s feeling all these protective vibes towards him. He wants to like, ruffle Zach’s hair and make him more puck-shaped sandwiches and like, tuck him in at night or something. And he knows that adult Zach is totally capable of looking after himself and is like, super great at adulting and never really asks anyone on the team for help or advice or anything, but Willy just really kind of likes looking after him. He feels good when Zach grins up at him. Like, Zach trusts Willy to look after him. That’s pretty fucking cool.

He’s kind of lost in thought when he hears the front door opening and he tenses up, but then Mitch’s head appears in the doorway and Willy relaxes again.

“Hey,” Mitch whispers and Auston’s head appears above Mitch’s, his eyes wide as he stares at Zach. “He’s still a kid, then.”

“Yeah,” Willy says before he gives in and strokes his fingers through Zach’s hair. Zach makes a grumbling noise and Willy grins. “You find anything?”

“Only these guys,” Mitch says, stepping into the room. Auston follows, and then Jake and Mo appear too.

“Are any of you experts on teammates who randomly turn into six year olds?” Willy asks.

“I heard about a guy in juniors once,” Jake says with a shrug.

“Yeah, really helpful Gards,” Mitch says, rolling his eyes and nudging Auston who grins at him. “We just thought we’d pop by and see if you needed anything.”

Willy’s about to say no when he pauses and frowns. “You’re totally checking up on me,” he says flatly.

“Uh,” Mitch says, obviously caught.

“We wanted to make sure Zach was alright,” Mo interjects, holding up his hands when Willy tries to protest. “Hey, it’s not because we don’t think you can look after him. It’s just, well, he’s our teammate too, yeah?”

Willy deflates immediately. “Yeah,” he says. “Well, he’s fine. I made sandwiches.”

“Good job, bro,” Auston says reassuringly.

“Thanks bro.” Willy holds out his fist and Auston bumps it. Willy settles back against the sofa and after a quick glance that Zach is still sleeping, he takes a deep breath and lets himself feel more comfortable with this whole weird situation. Auston’s a couple years younger than him and probably slightly more of a disaster in his personal life, but Willy craves validation and Auston’s his bro, so he’ll take it, thanks.

“You’re doing good,” Mo adds, looking down at Zach with a slight smile. “Zach’s in good hands.”

Willy tries not to preen at the praise - there’s something different about it coming from Mo, who actually does have his life mostly in order - but he fails miserably. “I’ve got this,” he says, much more confidently than he felt a few minutes ago. “You just figure out how we get Zach back because the kid’s pretty awesome but we need big Zach back.”

“Patty’s looking into it,” Mitch tells him. “He says it happened to a guy on the Sharks so he’s doing some digging. Oh, and he gave us one of the kids’ old car seats, skates and sticks if you want to get out of here for a bit, you could go to the rink and skate for a bit if you want.”

“Sounds good,” Willy says. He thinks Zach would like that a lot.

There’s a little movement next to him and he looks down to find Zach sleepily rubbing his eyes and looking up at him.

“Hey buddy,” Willy says softly. “You’ve got some visitors.”

Zach yawns before he blinks up at his teammates, his hand slipping unobtrusively into Willy’s like he’s seeking comfort or something. Willy tries not to beam but it’s almost impossible. He’s feeling all kinds of new emotions today and it’s kinda sweet.

“Hi,” Zach says, a little shyly.

He hears Auston’s quiet, “Oh my God,” and sees Mitch nudge him with an “I told you he was super cute, bro.”

“Hey Zach,” Mo says, completely normal like this happens every day. Willy fucking loves Mo. “How’re you feeling?”

“Tired,” Zach says honestly, rubbing his eyes again. His cheeks are all flushed and he still looks a little dopey. “Willy, can I have a drink please?”

“Sure bud,” Willy says. “You gonna be okay here with the guys?”

He ignores Mitch and Auston’s vaguely offended expressions because Zach’s grinning up at him and he’s got all those protective feelings in his chest again. “I’ll be okay.”

“Alright,” Willy says, standing up and stretching his arms out. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m sure we’ll all be fine,” Auston says dryly and Willy kind of wants to flip him off but, kid Zach. He settles for a more mature sticking out of his tongue and disappears into the kitchen to get Zach some juice.

He walks back in to find Gards crouched down in front of Zach, who looks kind of uncomfortable. And Gards isn’t doing anything weird, he looks like he’s just asking Zach something but Zach turns towards Willy as soon as he hears him coming back in and his expression instantly turns relieved.

“Miss me?” Willy asks lightly, moving as close to Zach as he can and handing him his juice. He raises his eyebrows at Gards, who stands up and takes a step back, looking puzzled.

“You were only gone for five seconds,” Zach says. It sounds like a yes though, and he settles his hand on Zach’s shoulder in apology.

“Five whole seconds?” he teases Zach. “What did I miss?”

“I was just asking Zach if he wanted to switch babysitters,” Gards says, shrugging when Willy’s gaze darts over towards him. “Thought he might be getting bored of you, bro.”

“Hey,” Willy protests. His hand tightens a little on Zach’s shoulder without him meaning to and he immediately removes it, shooting Zach an apologetic wince.

“I said no,” Zach says quickly. He tilts his head back a little and god, the stubborn, set look on his face is so like adult Zach that Willy’s chest actually hurts a little looking at him.

“What he actually said was that he doesn’t need a babysitter,” Mitch says, and he’s grinning like he’s remembering Zach saying something similar this morning when they’d first found him like this. “But Willy’s the most fun, or whatever.”

Auston pats Mitch’s back consolingly.

And like, maybe Willy’s had some cosmic shift in personality since this morning because normally he’d be the first to give Mitch shit for that, high-fiving Zach or whatever because yeah, he’s totally fun and cool and chill. But now he just feels a little weird, like that’s not enough, or something.

“Willy?” Zach pulls on his sleeve a little and Willy shakes off his crazy thoughts and crouches down so he’s Zach’s height. “I’ve finished.” He holds out his empty cup.

Willy laughs and gives into the constant temptation to ruffle Zach’s hair. “Good job, Zach buddy,” he says approvingly.

Then he suddenly has an armful of Zach and he has to put a hand down onto the wooden floor to stop them both from toppling over. Willy’s hugged Zach a million times, on the ice and off, but he’s never had Zach tuck his head under his chin before, or felt Zach’s hands clutch his shoulders. It’s nice.

He hears Auston and Mitch making exaggerated cooing noises at them so he stands up, Zach still wrapped around him, his little arms around Willy’s neck and his legs going around Willy’s waist.

“This is so fucking weird,” Gards mutters.

“Watch your language,” Willy says without thinking.

There’s a moment of silence that’s broken by Auston’s surprised snort of laughter.

“Right, time to go,” Mo says loudly, clapping his hands together once. “Willy’s got everything under control here and we should go see what Patty’s found out.”

The guys file out while Willy keeps Zach on his hip, ignoring Auston’s smirk and Mitch’s wide grin. Gards still looks wary about the whole situation but Mo gives him a reassuring nod before he leaves that makes Willy feel a million times better, somehow.

“So,” Willy says once the door is closed behind their teammates and it’s just the two of them. “Wanna go skate?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Lang- never mind,” Willy says with a sigh and starts gathering up the Marleau hand-me-downs to take down to the car.

*

After a brief argument with Zach about how he needs to sit in the back that ends in stunned silence when Willy just yells, “Because I told you to, now shut up and behave!”, they get to the rink and Zach’s pretty subdued until they get to the locker room and Willy kneels in front of Zach and offers him a quiet “sorry,” and a hopeful smile. Zach, who Willy knows can’t hold a grudge at all, smiles back at him and asks Willy to help him with his skates.

Willy sits next to him and halfway through tying his first skate, realizes that he’s so into this. Like, not Zach being a kid, because he’s pretty fucking hyped for Zach to be an actual adult again, but helping Zach and having Zach trust him implicitly. That’s pretty fucking baller. Like, he’s almost certain that no one else on the team, except maybe Kappy who has questionable judgement anyway, would choose Willy to look after them. But Zach, who’s pretty fucking smart and probably the best person in the world ever, wants Willy to help him with his skates and cut puck-shaped sandwiches for him and like, that’s awesome. And maybe it’s because it’s Zach that Willy’s crushing this but either way, Willy’s really, really into it.

“Ready?” Willy asks when he’s got his own skates on and he’s fastened the chin strap on Zach’s helmet for him.

“Yeah,” Zach says and they head out onto the ice. Willy skates around lazily, watching Zach as he circles the rink. “Wanna race?” Zach asks when he stops in front of Willy with a little snow shower that makes Willy grin.

“You think you can beat me?” Willy asks. “I’m not gonna give you a headstart just because you’re pocket-sized, dude.”

Zach rolls his eyes. Then he’s off, taking Willy by surprise. It takes him half a lap to catch up with Zach, which is like, super embarrassing then he keeps stride with Zach, who is desperately trying to win. Willy’s not surprised, Zach’s as competitive as Willy is, if not more. No one makes it the NHL without being competitive, it’s a total prerequisite. But then Zach shifts over towards Willy’s skating lane and Willy pulls up without thinking and Zach wins, his arms raised in the air as he looks over his shoulder, grinning smugly.

“I win,” he says, panting heavily but looking ridiculously pleased.

“You cheated,” Willy points out.

Zach just shrugs, so Willy has no other choice but to chase after him, both of them laughing when he finally catches Zach and lifts him off the ice between his legs.

They spend almost an hour skating together, not doing a single scrimmage or anything remotely recognizable as hockey-related. It’s as strange as anything else that’s happened today, that’s for sure.

“I’m gonna miss you when you get big again,” Willy says wistfully while he’s helping Zach take his skates off. “Like, I totally want you back to normal, but this Zach is pretty fun too.”

“I’m still me,” Zach says solemnly. “I’m just like, little.”

And it’s kind of a nice moment, right up until Willy over-balances when Zach’s skate comes off and falls on his ass.

Zach falls about laughing, one skate still on, while Willy grins at him from the floor.

*

Willy might be super awesome at looking after kid Zach, but he draws the line at making dinner and calls for pizza instead. “Don’t,” he says when Zach gives him a skeptical look as he puts down his phone. “It’ll be here in 20.”

They watch Edmonton beat the Islanders in a shootout until Zach’s rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“Bedtime,” Willy decides, scooping him up despite Zach’s sleepy protests and settling him into Zach’s huge California King.

“Read to me,” Zach sleepily demands, already half-asleep, curled up under the covers.

“Uh,” Willy says slowly, looking around for a book. He finds a copy of Hockey Hero in Zach’s living room, half tucked under a table and Zach’s sofa. Willy has his own copy, signed by the author himself, but he’s never actually read it. It’s one of those things he keeps meaning to do, since he’s super proud of Zach’s writing career but he’s just, like, never actually read any of Zach’s books.

“Found one,” he says, climbing into bed with Zach and settling down next to him. He starts reading, trying to keep his voice low and soft and after a few pages, he hears Zach’s breathing even out. He keeps reading though, since he’s invested now, and when he gets to the end, he closes the book and lets out a breath. “Good job, Zach,” he murmurs, even though he’s fast asleep and it’s probably something he should tell adult Zach, not kid Zach.

Since Zach’s guest room is actually a home gym with no bed, and Willy doesn’t fancy sleeping on Zach’s admittedly awesome sofa, he yawns and turns off the light and falls asleep to the sound of Zach’s light snoring.

*

Willy wakes up because his phone is vibrating. He sleepily picks it up and sees a text from Marns that says the whole Zach being a six year old thing should only last 24 hours. Willy groans and closes his eyes, vaguely hoping for more sleep.

Then he actually processes the message and abruptly sits up, but the bed next to him is empty.

“Zach?” Willy calls out, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and rubbing his eyes. He’s about to get up when Zach appears in the doorway, a cup of coffee in his hand. Actual adult Zach, with his nice, toned arms and stupid fluffy hair and a wide smile on his face.

“You’re back,” Willy breathes before he’s up and throwing himself at Zach, who barely catches him and manages to keep his coffee from spilling. “Holy fuck, dude. You’re back!”

“Language,” Zach says disapprovingly before he and Willy both start cracking up. Willy’s still got his arms around Zach’s neck and he kind of doesn’t want to let go, not when Zach’s here and real and like, a grown person again.

Eventually though he has to step back, even though Zach’s being super accommodating and letting Willy be clingy.

“You wanna have a shower and borrow some clothes and stuff?” Zach offers.

“Yeah,” Willy says with a little sigh. Zach digs in a closet for a moment and hands him a pair of sweats and a UMich hoodie that looks worn and faded and Willy doesn’t even need to hold it to know that it’s gonna smell like Zach.

He spends longer in the shower than he needs to, mostly because he needs the time to compose himself and stop feeling so weird about Zach. Like, he’s back, so Willy should just go back to treating Zach the same way he always has, without all these inconvenient left-over protective feelings that he has.

When he walks into the kitchen, Zach’s still nursing his mug of coffee, looking lost in thought. There’s toast on the table, unbuttered, so Willy takes a seat and waits awkwardly to see if Zach’s going to join him. Or even notice he’s there, maybe.

“Sorry,” Zach says after a few seconds, shaking his head and grabbing another mug to pour Willy some coffee. He hands it to Willy and sits next to him, his knee bumping against Willy’s under the table. “Puck toast?”

Willy grins and reaches for the toast. “Yeah, baby.”

*

Zach drives them to practice and Willy loses Zach to the rest of the team swarming around him, asking how he is and what the fuck happened yesterday and making sure he’s okay.

“So Willy kept you alive?” Marts says, throwing an arm around Willy’s neck and tugging gently. Willy shoves him away and rolls his eyes.

“He did a great job,” Zach says, concentrating on taping his socks. “Did I miss anything at skate yesterday?”

And Willy watches Zach slip easily into professional mode, all business out on the ice. He keeps his head down, listens to everything the coaches say and when Willy passes to him, Zach’s exactly where he’s meant to be, the pass connecting like it always does between them.

Willy knows he’s meant to be happy to have Zach back, and he is. He really, really is. But he kinda misses little Zach too. Adult Zach is the best, obviously, but little Zach was pretty awesome also.

Babs is just about to signal the end of practice so Willy lifts his stick off the ice and slowly heads off the ice.

Just as he’s about to step off, a puck whistles past his face, close enough that he instinctively jerks backwards before he turns to yell at whoever it was being careless.

The only person he sees though is Zach, leaning on his stick and grinning at him.

Willy blinks and then he grins and launches himself after Zach, who skates quickly away.

“Not so easy when I’m this size,” Zach yells over his shoulder as they speed past Matts and Brownie, who barely pay them any attention.

“No cheating this time,” Willy yells back because he’s already gaining on Zach.

Zach laughs and puts his head down and they actually race to the imaginary finish line in pretty much a dead heat. Zach shoves him into the boards as they slow down and knocks their helmets together. “Didn’t cheat,” he says with a grin.

“Yeah, but you did almost hit me in the head with that puck,” Willy says with a roll of his eyes, settling back against the boards and letting Zach stay right up in his space.

“Not even close,” Zach argues, nudging his leg against Willy’s. “I wouldn’t risk that pretty face, huh? The fans would run me out of town.”

Willy absolutely doesn’t flush. He doesn’t. He’s a little hot, but that’s probably more to do with being pinned against the boards by Zach than because he called Willy pretty. “No chance,” he says, because Toronto is a little fanatical but Zach’s one of their own. He’s golden in this city.

Zach grins and finally lets Willy go and they head off the ice together, neither of them seemingly keen to rush.

Most of the team has gone by the time they’re ready to leave. They’re halfway back to Zach’s condo when Willy blurts out, “Do you wanna hang out when we get back to yours?” like they haven’t spent the last 24 hours and counting together.

“Sure, buddy,” Zach says easily and Willy just-.

He frowns. It’s just a throwaway, but Willy doesn’t like it. After yesterday, he feels like they’re closer than buddies, okay? Like, he doesn’t know what he’d call it but it’s definitely more than buddies.

Willy carries the feeling with him all the way up to Zach’s apartment and maybe it festers a little as Zach makes lunch and Willy sits at the kitchen table, drumming his fingers against the surface while he watches Zach move gracefully around the room.

Then he puts a plate in front of Willy with a sandwich missing three little triangles, making a W shape, and Willy just stares at it because Zach cut his sandwich specially for him. And Willy like, still wants to ruffle Zach’s fluffy hair and make him more puck-shaped sandwiches and like, maybe share his bed at night or something.

Willy has a full on, goddamn epiphany right there in Zach’s kitchen, staring at a pb&j sandwich.

“Is it okay?” Zach asks, more curious than anything, and Willy just.

He leans over the table and kisses Zach square on the mouth.

It’s quick, over in a second or two and Willy doesn’t even try to like, stick his tongue in Zach’s mouth or anything and that’s probably a good decision because when he pulls back, Zach just looks at him blankly.

“Uh,” Zach says, sounding bemused and Willy wants to like, die on the spot, maybe.

“Oh my god,” he groans, his head dropping into his hands. He closes his eyes for good measure and tries desperately to blank out Zach’s very-not-into-it expression. “I’m sorry. Fuck, Zach I’m sorry.”

“Where did, um,” Zach coughs. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” Willy says honestly. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but Willy’s always had terrible impulse control. “I’m so sorry,” he repeats.

“Hey uh, don’t worry about it?” Zach says and Willy finally lifts his head. It’s okay though because Zach is very much not looking at him. “Um, lunch.”

Willy kind of feels like hysterically crying but instead he eats his stupid feelings-inducing sandwich and it’s delicious, because of course it is. Fuck.

Willy’s just finished eating when Zach stands up, picks up Willy’s plate and drops it onto his own. Then he plants his hands on Willy’s shoulders and just like, sits himself on Willy’s lap, straddling him and Willy’s hands are somehow on Zach’s waist as he blinks up at him.

“Hi,” Willy says stupidly.

He sees Zach’s grin just before he’s being kissed, Zach’s arms winding around Willy’s neck as he pulls him in closer. Willy’s hands slip under Zach’s shirt before he can stop himself, finding warm skin and pressing closer. One of them groans, Willy thinks it was Zach but honestly, he’s not sure and he doesn’t fucking care right now. All he can think about, all he can focus on, is how sweet Zach tastes, his lips warm and perfect and on Willy’s. He’s getting hard already, totally on edge and maybe a little desperate because it’s Zach, and he’s been here the whole time and Willy didn’t know, okay? He didn’t know.

Zach’s hands are sliding down Willy’s chest and then he pushes, just a little, enough to break the kiss. Willy’s panting a little, which would be totally embarrassing if Zach wasn’t breathing hard too, and it’d be almost impossible for Willy not to notice that Zach’s definitely tenting in his sweats.

Willy’s mouth fucking waters.

“What,” is all he manages to say though, his hands still on Zach’s back, keeping him close.

“I don’t know,” Zach says with a half-laugh, leaning down to press his forehead against Willy’s. “I don’t know. You were really good at looking after me, you know? And I liked it, William,” he says, and Willy like, shudders a little at his full name coming out of Zach’s mouth. The mouth he was just kissing like it was a fucking lifeline or something. “I really, fuck, I really fucking liked it?”

Willy kisses him, just a quick press of lips, his pulse hammering. “Me too,” he admits. “I really, really liked looking after you. And, fuck, I’m pretty good at it. I’m good at looking after you. And I kinda want to keep doing it.”

As he talks, he slides one hand innocently into Zach’s pants and palms him, groaning when he feels Zach leaking into his hand.

“Oh yeah?” Zach asks breathlessly, lifting his hips a little and rocking up into Willy’s hand. “You’re gonna look after me?”

“Gonna look after you so good,” Willy murmurs, capturing Zach’s lips and kissing him stupid while he closes his hand around Zach’s dick. Zach shoves his pants down a little so Willy can watch himself getting Zach off and it’s hot, okay? Zach’s rolling his hips like he can’t stop himself and he’s pressing hot, desperate kisses to Willy’s lips and Willy’s never been so fucking worked up before in his life without a hand on his own dick. Zach’s hot and heavy in his lap and Willy urges him on, his hand moving quickly as Zach’s head falls back and Willy watches in fascination as Zach comes over Willy’s fist and onto his own belly.

“Shit,” Willy says, awed. He kind of wants to lean down and lick Zach clean but he’s too worked up. Zach’s a little limp in his lap and that’s totally cool, but Willy’s on a hair trigger here. He slips his hand into his own pants and it’s only gonna take a second, he swears, just a second but before he can get a hand around himself, Zach’s pushing at him, scrambling to slide down between his legs and Willy’s fucking wrecked. He’s not going to last if Zach gets his mouth on Willy’s dick.

Between them, they get Willy’s sweats down and Zach opens his mouth, lets Willy feed him his dick and Willy might actually pass out. Like he might lose actual consciousness here, seeing his dick in Zach’s mouth.

It takes eight seconds and Zach’s hand massaging Willy’s balls before Willy comes, his body rigid and his legs trembling. “Fuck,” he mutters, not even embarrassed at how quickly he shot his load because Zach is fucking hot and he had his mouth on Willy’s dick, okay?

Zach tucks Willy back into his boxers and reaches up to pull Willy down into a kiss, sweet and soft and like, totally romantic, even though Zach just had Willy’s come in his mouth.

“That was -” Willy breaks off because he’s not sure he knows a word in the English language to describe what just happened between them. Or Swedish, for that matter.

“Yeah,” Zach says and lets Willy pull him up into his lap again, his head dropping heavily onto Willy’s shoulder. Willy lets his hand rest on Zach’s hip and squeezes just once.

“Yeah,” Willy echoes, grinning when he feels Zach laughing against him.

“Hey,” Zach says, lifting his head. Willy kisses him, just because, and he can feel Zach smiling against his lips. “Maybe you could like, take care of me in my bedroom, later. The bed’s better for my knees.”

Willy immediately thinks about Zach blowing him on that enormous bed and his dick twitches helplessly. “I can do that,” he says, his voice a little hoarse. “Fuck, Zach. Yeah. But like, eventually I might have to look after you at my place because I’m gonna need some clean clothes soon.”

Zach’s smile softens into something sweet. “I don’t know, do you really need clothes?” he teases.

Fuck later, Willy thinks and he stands up, dragging a laughing Zach into his bedroom.


End file.
